Structure

Form

Basic Pattern Structure of a japanese sentence.

Style

Simple

① Nominal Sentences:

・NounⒶ + NounⒷ + Copula: Ⓑ describes or identifies Ⓐ

・ジョンさんがアメリカじんです.
・John-san ga amerika-jin desu.
・John is an American.

② Adjectival Sentences: I-Adjective

・AdjectiveⒶ + NounⒷ: Ⓑ describes Ⓐ

・空が青い.
・Sora ga aoi.
・The sky is blue.

③ Adjectival Sentences: Na-Adjective

・AdjectiveⒶ + NounⒷ + Copula: Ⓑ describes Ⓐ

・地下鉄が便利だ.
・Chikatetsu ga benri da.
・The subway is convenient.

④ Verbal Sentences: Intransitive Verb

・Topic・SubjectⒶ + VerbⒷ: Ⓑ describes the state of Ⓐ

・桜さんが来た.
・Sakura-san ga kita.
・Sakura came.

⑤ Verbal Sentences: Transitive Verb

・Topic・SubjectⒶ + ObjectⒷ + VerbⒸ: Ⓐ does the action Ⓒ to Ⓑ

・先生は授業を始めた.
・Sensei wa jugyou o hajimeta.
・The teacher began teaching.

⑥ Topic-Comment Sentences:

・TopicⒶ + CommentⒷ: Ⓑ describes Ⓐ

・日本は春と秋がいい.
・Nihon wa haru to aki ga ii.
・As for Japan, spring and fall are good.

Conjoined

① AND-Relation: Connective forms of verbs, adjectives and copula

・Sentence(I-Adj-Ending) + kute + Sentence

・この辞書は安くて便利だ.
・This dictionary is cheap and convenient.

・Sentence(Na-Adj-Ending) + de + Sentence

・りなさんはきれいでやさしいです.
・Rina-san is beautiful and kind.

・Sentence(Noun-Ending) + de + Sentence

・ウンさんは中国人でキムさんは韓国人です.
・Mr.Wong is Chinese and Mr. Kim is Korean.

・Sentence(Vnoun-base-Ending) + Sentence

・私は朝六時に起き、夜十時ごろ寝る.
・I get up at six in the morning and go to bed around ten at night.

・Sentence(Vte-Ending) + Sentence

・山田さんはラメンを食べてビールを飲む.
・Yamada-san eats ramen and drinks beer.

② AND-Relation: Conjunctive Particles

・Sentence(V/I-Adj/(N/Na-Adj+Cop)-Ending) + shi + Sentence
・shi particle connects one or multiple reasons but not naming all of it.

・この事件はほぼ終息したし二度と起こることはない.
・This incident has more or less ended and will never happen again.

・Sentence(V/I-Adj/N/Na-Adj) + toka + Sentence
・toka cite a thing or an instance among other things or situation.

・じゃあ映画を字幕なしで見るとか日本の音楽を聞くとかはどう？
・So how about watching movies without subtitles or listening to Japanese music?

③ BUT-Relation: Conjunctive Particles

・Sentence + ga + Sentence

・家内はフランス語を話せるが私が話せない.
・My wife can speak French but I can’t.

・Sentence + kedo + Sentence

・入ってもいいけどしずかにしてくださいね.
・You can come in but please be quiet.

・Sentence + keredomo + Sentence

・あそびたいけれども宿題はまだ終わってない.
・I want to play but I haven’t finished my homework yet.

④ Connectives・Conjunctions

・Sentence + connectives・conjunctions + Sentence

・あの人は頭がいい. そのうえ性格してもいい.
・僕は駅前の喫茶店に行った. そしてそこで友達を待っていた.
・彼は新しい、いい車を持っている. でもめったに乗らない.
・手紙を出した. しかし返事はこなかった.
・車で行きますか. それとも飛行機で行きますか.
・私が別れようと言った. すると彼女雨は泣き出した.
・日本語を勉強すると役に立つ. だから日本をしている.
・金がない. つまり、貧乏なんです.

・He is smart. On top of that, he has a good personality.
・I went to a coffee shop in front of the station. And there I waited for my friend.
・He has a new, nice car, but he rarely drives it.
・I sent him a letter. But he never wrote back.
・Do you want to go by car? Or do you want to go by car or by plane?
・I said goodbye. Then she started to cry.
・I told her that studying Japanese would be useful for her. That’s why I’m doing Japan.
・I don’t have money. I mean, we are poor.

Complex

① Adjectival Clause: Relative Clause

・Relative Clause + Noun

・私が昨日見た犬はかわいいだ.
・I saw a dog yesterday that was adorable.

② Adjectival Clause: Complementary Clause: With toiu

・Complimentary Clause + toiu + Noun

・日本語は曖昧な言葉だという考えは珍しくない.
・The idea that Japanese is an ambiguous language is not uncommon.

③ Adjectival Clause: Complementary Clause: Nominalized

・Complementary Clause + no・koto

・光子がピアノを弾いているのを聞いた.
・ひかるさんが今日は来ることを知らなかった.

・I heard Mitsuko playing the piano.
・I didn’t know Hikaru-san was going to be here today.

④ Adjectival Clause: Complementary Clause: Interrogative Quotation

・Complementary Clause + ka・kadouka・nokadouka

・誰がそれをするかが問題だ.
・あの学生は真面目かどうかしていますか.

・It’s just a question of who’s going to do it.
・Do you know whether or not that student is serious?

⑤ Adjectival Clause: Complementary Clause: Declarative Quotation

・Complementary Clause + to iu・omou・etc.

・あそこはたぶん静かだと思います.
・彼は漢字は難しくないと言っている.

・It’s probably quiet over there.
・He says Kanji is not difficult.

⑥ Adverbial Clause: Auxiliary-Adjective

・Adverbial Clause + you (ni・na)・mitai (ni・na)

・零さないように運んでください.
・電車に間に合うように早く行きましう.

・Please carry it without spilling it.
・Let’s get there early to catch the train.

⑦ Adverbial Clause: Conjunctions・Conjunctive Particles

・Adverbial Clause + conjunctions・conjunctive particles

・私がそこにいた時には異常はなかった.
・私は日本留学するために日本語を勉強しています.

・There was nothing unusual when I was there.
・I’m studying Japanese in order to study in Japan.

⑧ Conditional Clause:

・Conditional Clause + tara・to・nara・ ba

・コートを着たら寒くありません.
・彼女は酒を飲むと顔が赤くなる.
・毎日練習をすれば上手になるよ.
・君がいやだと言うのならだれかほかの者にやらせる.

・If you put on a coat, it’s not cold.
・If she drinks, her face turns red.
・If you practice every day, you’ll get better.
・If you don’t want to do it, I’ll get someone else to do it.

Ⓐ Compound Particles: Pre-Nominal Form

・Noun・Verb + Compound Particle + Noun

・コンピュータに関する彼の知識は相当なものだ.
・His knowledge of computers is quite impressive.

Ⓑ Compound Particles: Pre-Verbal Form

・Noun・Verb + Compound Particle

・人は年を取るにつれて記憶力が衰える.
・Memory declines as people get older.

Level

Native

Simple

Express

Collect

Random

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

R7

R8

Grammar

Reading